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Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Book Preview: Son of hamas_chapter one

Cover
To my beloved father and my wounded family
To the victims of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict
To every human life my Lord has saved


My family, I am very proud of you; only my God can understand what you have been through. I realize that what I have done has caused another deep wound that might not heal in this life and that you may have to live with its shame forever.

I could have been a hero and made my people proud of me. I knew what kind of hero they were looking for: a fighter who dedicated his life and family to the cause of a nation. Even if I was killed, they would have told my story for generations to come and been proud of me forever, but in reality, I would not have been much of a hero. Instead, I became a traitor in the eyes of my people. Although I once brought pride to you, I now bring you only shame. Although I was once the royal prince, I am now a stranger in a foreign country fighting against the enemy of loneliness and darkness.

I know you see me as a traitor; please understand it was not you I chose to betray, but your understanding of what it means to be a hero. When Middle Eastern nations—Jews and Arabs alike—start to understand some of what I understand, only then will there be peace. And if my Lord was rejected for saving the world from the punishment of hell, I don’t mind being a reject! I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know that I am not afraid. And now I want to give you something that has helped me to survive so far: all the guilt and shame I have carried for all these years is a small price to pay if it saves even one innocent human life.

How many people appreciate what I have done? Not so many. But that’s okay. I believed in what I did and I still believe, which is my only fuel for this long journey. Every drop of innocent blood that has been saved gives me hope to carry on to the last day. I paid, you paid, and yet the bills of war and peace continue to come. God be with us all and give us what we need to carry this heavy weight.

With love,
Your son
Available on CD as Audio Book


 
chapter one

I steered my little white Subaru around a blind corner on one of the narrow roads that led to the main highway outside the West Bank city of Ramallah. Stepping lightly on the brake, I slowly approached
one of the innumerable checkpoints that dot the roads running to and from Jerusalem. “Turn off the engine! Stop the car!” someone shouted in broken Arabic. Without warning, six Israeli soldiers jumped out of the bushes and blocked my car, each man carrying a machine gun, and each gun pointed directly at my head.
Panic welled up in my throat. I stopped the car and threw the keys through the open window.
“Get out! Get out!”
Wasting no time, one of the men jerked open the door and threw me to the dusty ground. I barely had time to cover my head before the beating began. But even as I tried to protect my face, the heavy
boots of the soldiers quickly found other targets: ribs, kidneys, back, neck, skull.
Two of the men dragged me to my feet and pulled me to the checkpoint, where I was forced onto my knees behind a cement barricade. My hands were bound behind my back with a sharp-edged
plastic zip tie that was cinched much too tight. Somebody blindfolded me and shoved me into the back of a jeep onto the floor. Fear mingled with anger as I wondered where they were taking me and
how long I would be gone. I was barely eighteen years old and only a few weeks away from my final high school exams. What was going to happen to me?
After a fairly short drive, the jeep slowed to a halt. A soldier pulled me from the back and removed my blindfold. Squinting in the bright sunlight, I realized that we were at Ofer Army Base. An Israeli defense
base, Ofer was one of the largest and most secure military facilities in the West Bank. As we moved toward the main building, we passed by several
armored tanks, which were shrouded by canvas tarps. The monstrous mounds had always intrigued me whenever I had seen them from outside the gates. They looked like huge, oversized boulders.
Once inside the building, we were met by a doctor who gave me a quick once-over, apparently to make sure I was fit to withstand interrogation.
I must have passed because, within minutes, the handcuffs and blindfold were replaced, and I was shoved back into the jeep.
As I tried to contort my body so that it would fit into the small area usually reserved for people’s feet, one beefy soldier put his boot squarely on my hip and pressed the muzzle of his M16 assault rifle
into my chest. The hot reek of petrol fumes saturated the floor of the vehicle and forced my throat closed. Whenever I tried to adjust my cramped position, the soldier jabbed the gun barrel deeper into
my chest.
Without warning, a searing pain shot through my body and made my toes clench. It was as if a rocket were exploding in my skull. The force of the blow had come from the front seat, and I realized that
one of the soldiers must have used his rifle butt to hit me in the head. Before I had time to protect myself, however, he hit me again, harder this time and in the eye. I tried to move out of reach but the soldier who had been using me for a footstool dragged me upright. “Don’t move or I will shoot you!” he shouted. But I couldn’t help it. Each time his comrade hit me, I involuntarily recoiled from the impact.
Under the rough blindfold, my eye was beginning to swell closed, and my face felt numb. There was no circulation in my legs. My breathing came in shallow gasps. I had never felt such pain. But worse than the physical pain was the horror of being at the mercy of something merciless, something raw and inhuman. My mind reeled as I struggled to understand the motives of my tormentors. I understood
fighting and killing out of hatred, rage, revenge, or even necessity. But I had done nothing to these soldiers. I had not resisted. I had done everything I was told to do. I was no threat to them. I was
bound, blindfolded, and unarmed. What was inside these people that made them take such delight in hurting me? Even the basest animal kills for a reason, not just for sport. I thought about how my mother was going to feel when she learned that I had been arrested. With my father already in an Israeli prison,
I was the man of the family. Would I be held in prison for months and years as he had been? If so, how would my mother manage with me gone too? I began to understand how my dad felt—worried about
his family and grieved by the knowledge that we were worrying about him. Tears sprang to my eyes as I imagined my mother’s face. I also wondered if all my years of high school were about to be
wasted. If I indeed was headed for an Israeli prison, I would miss my final exams next month. A torrent of questions and cries raced through my mind even as the blows continued to fall: Why are you doing this to me? What have I done? I am not a terrorist! I’m just a kid.
Why are you beating me like this?
I’m pretty sure I passed out several times, but every time I came to, the soldiers were still there, hitting me. I couldn’t dodge the blows.
 
The only thing I could do was scream. I felt bile rising in the back of
my throat and I gagged, vomiting all over myself.
I felt a deep sadness before losing consciousness. Was this the end?
Was I going to die before my life had really even started?

Mosab Hsassan Yousef
 
 http://sonofhamas.com/

Monday, March 29, 2010

Coptic Priest Fearlessly Spreading God's Word

Egyptian evangelist Father Zakaria Botros is one of the most controversial figures in the Middle East. He's a born again Coptic priest who's led thousands of Muslims to Christ via the Internet and television-- and militant Muslims want him dead because of that. Zakaria is perhaps the most hated man in the Middle East. He's confronting Islam with an "in your face style" of TV and Internet evangelism.
"Muslims are fainting. They are brainwashed," he said. "They believe that Islam is the most beautiful religion in the world."
"You cannot preach to him gently about your beliefs because he rejects all of them," Zakaria explained about his style. "You have to awaken him. And my method is a short, sharp shock. Which means an electric shock."
It's a jolt that's leading Muslims to critically examine their own faith, he added. Then they start posing questions to Islamic religious leaders. When they go unanswered, they begin to question their faith. That's the story of one woman on a Middle East talk show. She asked her co-host Sheik Jamal why Islam treats women as possessions to be used by men for sexual gratification.Zakaria said that part of her faith is hard to accept. His weekly 90-minute television program, Truth Talk airs Friday during prime time throughout the Middle East. It's broadcast on the al-Hayat satellite channel and is watched by nearly 60 million Arabs. Zakaria's Internet discussion show Pal Talk is broadcast online for six hours every Tuesday and Thursday. He recently celebrated his 75th birthday and says he's faced many hardships and challenges during his life journey. Perhaps the greatest affecting his spiritual walk was the tragic slaying of his older brother more than 60 years ago.
"He was not only a Christian, but he was a believer-- a true believer," Zakaria recalled.
Zakaria said when his brother was in his twenties he started to share Christ with anyone who would listen-- Coptics and Muslims alike. He was murdered by Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood in 1947. "They were very powerful in those days and they killed him," Zakaria said. "They cut his tongue and beheaded him. It was very hard."
The priest was a teenager at the time and inherited his brother's Bible. He said the notes written on the pages inside helped him to know Christ. Zakaria thought good works would help him get into Heaven. It wasn't until he studied the writings of Cyril-- the fourth century bishop of Jerusalem-- that he came to believe in redemption and salvation through grace. He fell on his knees and prayed. After that, Zakaria walked into another kind of service-- a ministry to Muslims that led to imprisonment and eventual exile from Egypt in 1989. He started Pal Talk while living in England and began his television broadcasts in 2003. Today, he is in hiding. Al Qaeda terrorists have placed a $60 million bounty on his head and that has made him cautious, but unafraid. "Because I believe that I am in the hands of God and He protects me and there is no fear," Zakaria said. "Jesus said don't fear and there are about 366 promises in the Bible, don't fear.
So, Islam's public enemy number one presses on.
"People see the program on the TV, but I see the hand of God's work among all of them in the heavenly TV," he said. "I see by faith what God is doing among Muslims today.
"I'll be so happy to have my life ended on earth because I will start my eternal life with Jesus Christ whom I love," Zakaria added.

*Original broadcast November 30, 2009.
By Gary Lane

Friday, March 12, 2010

Supranatural and the Bible


In the next few days we will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In connection with that let's talk about the world of the dead from the biblical viewpoint.  Popular television shows like Supranatural, Ghost Whisperer, Ghost buster,  John Edward Show all seem to suggest that talking to the dead and communicating with spirits is quite possible. The question is…. Is there such a thing as a sixth sense or  Is it possible to communicate with the spirit in this real word?  Take a look what Bible say about talking to the dead and Supranatular world…

What Celeb’s Belief


Are you a fan who idolized one and imitative behavior of celebrities? Did you ever think about whether that becomes a rule/model of your celebrity idol? Let's find out what your celeb's belief. Below is an list of the belief systems of celebrities (both living and dead; in film, television, music, literature, academics and politics), listed in alphabetical order by last name.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Fasting

On the Christian holyday known as Good Friday, observed the Friday before Easter, Christians commemorate the passion, or suffering, and death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Many believers spend this day in prayer, meditation, repentance and fasting,  on the agony of Christ on the cross. Jesus himself affirmed in Luke 5:35 that after His death, fasting would be appropriate for his followers. Let's found Fasting example tradition on our Bible:


Michael W. Smith

Michael Whitaker Smith was born in Kenova, West Virginia, on October 7, 1957, the son of an oil refinery worker and a caterer. At age 5 he wrote his first song. At age ten he gave his life to Christ and he spent the

Bible software Recommendation

Here is my suggestion list for Bible Software:

11 Great Prayers

  1. The Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:5-15). Jesus taught this classic lesson in prayer to his disciples. We'll consider the Lord's Prayer phrase by phrase as a pattern for our own praying.

Angels We Know.


ANGELS - Angels are the messengers of God. When portrayed in art, they are always beardless, are sexless, have wings and are barefooted. Angels are used by God for a wide variety of purposes. The following is a list of things angels have been seen carrying or doing in art and architecture: palm branch, scroll, parchment or book (messenger); sword (archangel);

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

(Easter) Poem


Christ, the Lord, is risen today, Alleluia!
Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply, Alleluia!

Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Lo! the Sun’s eclipse is over, Alleluia!
Lo! He sets in blood no more, Alleluia!

Vain the stone, the watch, the seal, Alleluia!
Christ hath burst the gates of hell, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids His rise, Alleluia!
Christ hath opened paradise, Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once He died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ hath led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

Hail, the Lord of earth and heaven, Alleluia!
Praise to Thee by both be given, Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia!
Hail, the resurrection day, Alleluia!

King of glory, Soul of bliss, Alleluia!
Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!
Thee to know, Thy power to prove, Alleluia!
Thus to sing and thus to love, Alleluia! 

Charles Wesley 1707-1788 








Most glorious Lord of life, that on this day,
Didst make Thy triumph over death and sin:
And having harrow'd hell, didst bring away
Captivity thence captive, us to win:
This joyous day, dear Lord, with joy begin,
And grant that we for whom Thou diddest die
Being with Thy dear blood clean wash'd from sin,
May live for ever in felicity.
And that Thy love we weighing worthily,
May likewise love Thee for the same again:
And for Thy sake that all like dear didst buy,
With love may one another entertain.
So let us love, dear love, like as we ought,
Love is the lesson which the Lord us taught.

Edmund Spenser 1552-1599

Easter Bible vs Easter Pagan



Easter is another greatest Christian fest that celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead who was declared Jesus as the Son of God (Roman 1:4). According to the bible, on the third day after Good Friday (the day of his crucifixion), mourners went to His tomb to collect His body. However, He was not there and they were greeted by an angel who said "He is Risen". So now called Easter Sunday, He rose from the dead! (John 20:1-10, Matthew 28;1-10, Luke 24;1-10, Mark 16;1-8).

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